Eric Wedge managed the Cleveland Indians from 2003-2009 and was named AL Manager of the Year in 2007. Wedge’s Indians lost to the Red Sox in the ALCS that season. Seattle hired Wedge in October of 2010 and he led the Mariners for three seasons. Wedge cited differences in philosophies with the front office as the reason for stepping down in September.

In other skipper news, according to Ken Rosenthal the Nationals have hired Matt Williams as their new manager. A date for a formal announcement has not been reported.

Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer are not the only ones conducting the interviews. As previously reported, Randy Bush and Tom Ricketts are known to be involved in the process. The Sun-Times reported, “Cubs insiders suggest the front office is comfortable hiring any of several candidates on their list and are conducting multiple interviews involving different layers of the upper management team with those candidates.

The Cubs will reportedly wait until after the World Series so they can formally interview Torey Lovullo.

Theo Epstein put a loose deadline of November 11 of having the new manager in place. And, one thing to keep in mind is that the front office is also conducting interviews to fill coaching positions on the new manager’s staff.